James Bond Film: Goldfinger (1964)
Sean Connery, Honor Blackman & Gert Frobe Star in Classic 007 Movie
James Bond (Sean Connery) is hot on the trail of super villain Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) in director Guy Hamilton's 1964 007 movie classic, Goldfinger.
In 1964 Sean Connery returned as British MI6 secret agent James Bond in United Artists' Goldfinger. Honor Blackman, Gert Frobe, Shirley Eaton, Harold Sakata, Tania Mallet, Lois Maxwell, et al., all appeared in solid, 24-karat gold support.
Ian Fleming Writes Goldfinger
Goldfinger was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by British author Ian Fleming (1908-1964). Goldfinger was the seventh title in Fleming's 14-book James Bond series, which had begun with Casino Royale in 1953.
Screenplay, Director, Music
Produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, Goldfinger was written for the screen by Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn. Directing the action was Guy Hamilton, who would later direct three more James Bond films: Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
Providing Goldfinger's all-important music score was John Barry, with Miss Shirley Bassey performing the movie's title song. Bassey's strong, sassy version of "Goldfinger" would climb all the way to #8 in 1965 on Billboard Magazine's Top 100 Records.
Goldfinger Cast
Sean Connery -- James Bond in two previous flicks, Dr. No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963) -- returned as British super agent 007. Others appearing in the cast included Gert Frobe (Auric Goldfinger), Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), Shirley Eaton (Jill Masterson), Tania Mallet (Tilly Masterson), Harold Sakata (Oddjob), Bernard Lee (M), Martin Benson (Martin Solo), Cec Linder (Felix Leiter), Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) and Desmond Llewelyn (Q).
Other casting possibilities weighed by producers included Milton Reid (Oddjob), Shirley Anne Field (Jill Masterson), Jack Lord and Austin Willis (Felix Leiter) and Orson Welles, Theodore Bikel and Titos Vandis (Auric Goldfinger).
Budget, Filming Locations, Aston Martin DB5
Budgeted at a then-whopping $3 million, Goldfinger was filmed from January 20 to July 21, 1964. Filming locations included the Swiss Alps; Miami Beach, Florida; Louisville, Lexington and Fort Knox, Kentucky; Lucerne, Switzerland; Washington, D.C.; and the Esso Oil Refinery, Stanwell, England.
Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom served as Goldfinger's in-house filming locale. It is here where interior shots were staged for Fort Knox and Auric Enterprises.
One of the film's major props was Bond's gadget-equipped car, an Aston Martin DB5.
Oddjob, Operation Grand Slam, Fort Knox Gold Reserves
Goldfinger begins at Miami Beach's Fontainebleau Hotel, where British agent James Bond and his CIA counterpart Felix Leiter are keeping an eye on wealthy businessman Auric Goldfinger. After Bond exposes Goldfinger's high-tech cheating operation at gin rummy, the vengeful businessman strikes back, killing newly-acquired 007 girlfriend Jill Masterson by painting her solid gold.
Bond tracks Goldfinger to London, where the two engage in a high-stakes golf game. In order to convince Bond that he is not one to trifle with, Goldfinger instructs his Oriental assistant, Oddjob, to perform a little demonstration. Oddjob does as ordered, severing the head of a statue with a well-aimed toss of his steel-rimmed bowler hat.
Following a chase through the Swiss Alps, Bond learns of Goldfinger's intention to hit Fort Knox. Dubbed Operation Grand Slam, Goldfinger plans to detonate an atomic bomb and irradiate America's gold reserves, rendering them useless for some 57 years and exponentially increasing the value of his own precious metal holdings.
Led by Pussy Galore's Flying Circus, Operation Grand Slam begins, with the Goldfinger Girls buzzing Fort Knox where they release a deadly spray of nerve gas.
Release, Reviews
Goldfinger premiered in London on September 17, 1964. The movie made its American debut in New York City on December 22, 1964.
"Splendidly witty and zestful slice of fantastic hokum, with Sean Connery relishing every dame and fight..." crowed Variety (9/23/64).
"Crackling, violent, extremely suspenseful..." wrote Hollis Alpert of Saturday Review (12/12/64).
"Mr. Connery plays the hero with an insultingly cool, commanding air, providing a great vicarious image for all the panting Walter Mittys in the world," opined Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (12/22/64).
Big Box Office, DVD
Goldfinger posted big box office numbers, raking in $22.988 million, good for the #3 position on the list of Hollywood's top moneymaking films of 1964.
Goldfinger's latest incarnation on DVD comes in MGM/UA's James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set, released on November 6, 2007. Twenty-one Bond films are here, including Goldfinger, Dr. No, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and the 2006 version of Casino Royale.
While strapped to a table, with a laser beam steadily closing in on him, a nervous 007 queries of his gold-plated adversary, "Do you expect me to talk?" Without missing a beat, Goldfinger demonically replies, "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"
Now that's a movie villain, one which Life magazine politely called a "Solid-Gold Cad."
Additional Reviews/Sources
Commonweal (12/18/64), Life (11/6/64), The New Republic (12/19/64), The New York Herald Tribune (12/22/64), The New Yorker (12/26/64), Newsweek (12/21/64), Time (12/18/64).
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